What Cooks, Restaurant earn in St. Charles County, MO
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $37,690: the median annual pay for Cooks, Restaurant in St. Charles County, MO. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $18.12 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $40,500, which is 7.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 12,970 people working in this occupation across the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. St. Charles County, MO has roughly 414,535 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Cooks, Restaurant in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $29,690 a year ($14.27 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $47,230 or more ($22.71 an hour). That is a gap of $17,540 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,320 at the 25th percentile and $45,050 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $18.12 an hour or $37,690 a year at the median for St. Charles County, MO. Before any deductions, that is $3,141 a month, $1,450 every two weeks and $725 each week. After taxes the same job pays $15.15 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in St. Charles County, MO compares
Compared with the Missouri average
A worker in this occupation in St. Charles County, MO earns $1,127 more than the Missouri average of $36,563, a premium of 3.1%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,127 before tax and roughly $943 after tax. Within Missouri, St. Charles County, MO already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Cooks, Restaurant is $38,193 across the contiguous United States. At $37,690, St. Charles County, MO pays $503 less, which is 1.3% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in St. Charles County, MO
Among the 578 occupations with published wages in St. Charles County, MO, Cooks, Restaurant ranks number 520 by median pay, ahead of about 10% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Software Developers at $129,030 a year, which is $91,340 more than the median for Cooks, Restaurant.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Cooks, Restaurant earning the St. Charles County, MO median of $37,690, they add up to $6,168. The result is $31,522 of take-home pay a year ($2,627 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $16 goes to taxes and $84 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 16.4%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $21,940. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,394, an effective 6.4% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,337 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $547. FICA totals $2,883, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Missouri
Missouri income tax on this salary is $890 a year, or 2.4% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 37% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $74 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for St. Charles County, MO
IRS Statistics of Income data for St. Charles County, MO show an average adjusted gross income of $100,020 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.1% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.4%, compared with the 6.4% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in St. Charles County, MO
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in St. Charles County, MO: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $31,522 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For St. Charles County, MO, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,104 a month ($13,248 a year), and at $1,349 for two bedrooms. For Cooks, Restaurant, a one-bedroom absorbs 42.0% of take-home pay and 35.1% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 9.1% of gross pay for Cooks, Restaurant in St. Charles County, MO. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Missouri residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,364 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $672, for $2,036 in total. Gasoline in Missouri averages $3.03 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,403.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $20,123 a year in St. Charles County, MO. Subtract that from $31,522 of take-home pay and $11,399 remains, which is $950 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 30.2% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford to live in St. Charles County, MO?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $37,690 that ceiling is $942 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,104 is $162 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $21.23 an hour; the median for Cooks, Restaurant is $18.12, which is 15% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.15 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 16.8 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,349 a month means $675 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,154 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $16,553.
How fast you can save
At $950 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 11 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 22 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Cooks, Restaurant pay in St. Charles County, MO
How much do Cooks, Restaurant make per hour in St. Charles County, MO?
The median is $18.12 per hour, based on $37,690 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $14.27 at the 10th percentile to $22.71 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Cooks, Restaurant take home after taxes in St. Charles County, MO?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $37,690 becomes $31,522 a year. That is $2,627 a month, $1,212 every two weeks or $606 a week.
How much tax do Cooks, Restaurant pay in St. Charles County, MO?
Total taxes are $6,168 a year, an effective rate of 16.4%: $2,394 federal income tax, $2,883 FICA and $890 Missouri income tax.
Do Cooks, Restaurant earn more in St. Charles County, MO than elsewhere in Missouri?
Yes. The local median of $37,690 is +3.1% versus the Missouri average of $36,563, a difference of $1,127 a year.
Can Cooks, Restaurant afford a one-bedroom apartment in St. Charles County, MO?
A one-bedroom costs $1,104 a month against take-home pay of $2,627, which is 42.0% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $942 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Cooks, Restaurant in St. Charles County, MO?
About $950 a month ($11,399 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $20,123 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in St. Charles County, MO at the 30% guideline?
$21.23 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,248 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Cooks, Restaurant is $18.12.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Missouri rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.